Providing a Personal Perspective of World War II History and the 1940s American Home Front.

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Thursday, March 12, 2015

Noor Khan: Spy Princess

Hello All,

Noor's service portrait

Continuing
with Women’s History Month, I would like to introduce you to Noor-un-Nisa
Inayat Khan, born January 2, 1914, St. Petersburg, who became an Allied Special
Operations Executive (SOE) agent during World War II. Her dedication and skill
as the first female radio operator to assist the French Resistance in France,
earned her the George Cross honor, which is the highest civilian honor in the
United Kingdom.

Noor, of
Indian and American decent, often being called Nora, was raised in Europe by a
noble Indian Muslim father and an American mother from New Mexico. The family
initially settled in Russia, but moved to London just before the outbreak of
World War I. Shortly after war’s end, the family moved to France and remained there
until France was invaded by the Germans at the outbreak of World War II, when
they traveled back to England. These major life changes developed a keenly
aware individual in Noor’s case. She had an intelligent understand of different
cultures, dialects, and social graces. She studied child psychology and music
during her formative years and then went on to begin a successful career as a
children’s story and poetry writer as an adult.

Noor was musically gifted

World War
II would alter her plans for her future dramatically. Despite her upbringing as
a pacifist, Noor knew she had a role to play in the conflict to defeat the Nazi
regime. By November 1940, Noor joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF)
and was sent to train as a wireless operator. However, the monotony of her
duties soon wore on her and so she applied for commission in a more rewarding
field. She was consequently promoted to Assistant Section Officer and then
recruited to join F (France) Section of the Special Operations Executive in February
1943. Her life for the next few months consisted of rigorous training all over
England and despite her rushed training; superiors felt her language skills and
competency in wireless communications made her an adequate candidate for Nazi
occupied France. By June 1943, Noor was given a new identity as “Jeanne-Marie
Regnier/Nurse”, Assistant Section Officer/Ensign Inayat Khan and landed in
Northern France, on a night landing codenamed Teacher/Nurse/Chaplain/Monk.

Noor was
joined by two other women in Paris, the Chaplain and the Teacher, and together
they joined the larger network, codenamed Prosper. Within a month and a half,
the network was compromised and hundreds of French Resistance personnel were
arrested. Noor was the only remaining wireless operator at large in her circuit
and was able to keep transmitting information to London. She quickly became the
most wanted British Agent in France with German wireless detection details on
her every move. To avoid detection, Noor could only transmit for twenty minutes
in one place at a time. Her dedication and spirit kept her going through the
most challenging ordeal of her life, thus far.

As if
matters could not get any worse, Noor was betrayed by one of her own, a colleague
who was either a double agent for the Sicherheitsdienst or jealous of her
talents. Nevertheless, on October 13, 1943, Noor was arrested and taken to the
SD Headquarters, Paris, for interrogations. Despite her quite and passive
aggressive nature, Noor fought arrest with such violent force, the officers
treated as a dangerous prisoner. However, though there was no evidence to
suggest she had been tortured, her interrogations lasted over a month. She lied
to the Gestapo at every encounter to avoid divulging information and attempted
to escape twice while in captivity. As a result, she was sent to a German prison,
in Pforzheim, in solitary confinement as a “Nacht und Nebel”, or “Night and Fog”,
meaning her whereabouts were completely secret. She was held captive for ten
months. Her conditions of confinement were horrible and other prisoners could
hear her weeping at night. Through her training and sheer genius, Noor was able
to transmit messages to fellow prisoners by scraping her mess cup on the floor.
Eventually someone nearby was able to identify her and her address in London.

Bust resurrected in Noor's honor, London

In
September 1944, she and three other agents were transferred to Dachau
Concentration Camp and subsequently executed. An anonymous Dutch prisoner
recorded that Noor’s last words were “Libertѐ”.

Five years
later, Noor was awarded the George Cross and the French Croix de Guerre for her
service and is now memorialized in London.

If you are
interested in Noor’s story, a biographic film was produced in 2012, entitled, Spy Princess: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan.

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The National D-Day Memorialis run by a private, non-profit educational foundation in Bedford, Virginia that seeks to preserve the lessons and legacy of D-Day, June 6, 1944.

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I work as the Education Coordinator for the National D-Day Memorial planning a variety of family-friendly programs for students of all ages. It is my passion to present history in a way that is fun and engaging.